Erin Stern's Elite Body 4-week Fitness Trainer

Monday: Shoulders and Arms
Tuesday: Plyometric Circuit and Legs
Wednesday: Rest or Cardio
Thursday: Back
Friday: Chest and Shoulders
Saturday: High-Intensity Interval Cardio
Sunday: Rest

WARM-UP

This program is demanding and will challenge you in new ways. It's imperative to warm up before every workout to prepare your body for the unconventional exercises and techniques.

Instead of performing an uninspired series of static stretches, which can actually leave cold muscles more prone to injury, warm up on the bike, elliptical, or treadmill. Move and stretch at the same time to get your blood flowing, prime your muscles, lubricate your joints, and prepare your body for a full range of motion under load.

REST DAYS

When you take a rest day, it's important to actually rest. When you're in the gym lifting, you're breaking down your muscle fibers, not growing them. Growth and recovery occur when your body is at rest, so give your muscles a break!

"BE SURE TO EAT BALANCED MEALS OF LEAN PROTEIN, COMPLEX CARBS, AND HEALTHY FATS."

Although you're taking a break from the gym, that doesn't mean you can forget about your nutrition. Be sure to eat balanced meals of lean protein, complex carbs, and healthy fats.

TIMED REST PERIODS

One of the hardest parts of this program is sticking to the prescribed rest periods. You'll be training hard with only 30-60 seconds of rest between sets, and often, between supersets. The workouts may be much more intense and fast-paced than you're accustomed to. Push through it and stay on target, even when you're tired.

SUPERSET SCIENCE

Each Elite Body workout incorporates supersets. A superset is a technique in which you perform two exercises back-to-back without rest. This method has numerous benefits. Most importantly, supersets keep your heart rate elevated, allow you to train more efficiently, and help you maximize growth by pushing massive amounts of blood and lactic acid into the working muscles.

"A SUPERSET IS AN ADVANCED TECHNIQUE IN WHICH YOU PERFORM TWO EXERCISES BACK-TO-BACK WITHOUT REST."

You'll also do burn-out sets during this trainer. At the end of many of the workouts, you'll take a high-rep set to failure. When you're ultra-fatigued and trying to do more reps than your body can handle, your body has to recruit every muscle fiber available. The more muscle fibers you recruit and use, the more powerful you'll be!

CARDIO

No 45-minute treadmill walks for you! Because the Elite Body Trainer is built on supersets and limited rest, you get a lot of cardio during your lifting sessions. To really ramp up your fat loss and boost your conditioning, you also do a day of high-intensity interval cardio.

Dr. Jake Wilson explains that high-intensity interval training (HIIT) results in greater fat loss and metabolic elevation than low-intensity cardio. "During this trainer, we'll cover how to optimize HIIT into your workouts for better results," he says.

INTENSITY

The Elite Body workouts are short, intense, and challenging. It's important to get psyched up before you even get into the gym. You get to go home and rest when you're done with the workout, but while you lift, you have to apply every ounce of available energy.

"IT'S IMPORTANT TO GET PSYCHED UP BEFORE YOU EVEN GET INTO THE GYM."

Although your mental intensity should always be high, make sure you scale the workouts to your ability. Be smart about choosing weight. Push yourself, but have a solid foundation before you throw on too many plates and end up lifting with your ego.

ABS

Training your abs is important not only for aesthetic purposes, but because a strong core will help you be more powerful and will keep your back healthy. Although abdominal training isn't included in the videos, it is part of the training program. Check out the daily workout pages for more abdominal training instruction.

SHOULDERS

Hitting shoulders twice per week may seem like overkill, but Erin trains them frequently because of their importance to a killer physique. Your shoulders begin that coveted V-taper and make your waist look smaller. They're also incredibly important for nearly every upper body exercise, which means they need to be strong and healthy.